'Curious' case of reappearing toys on toddler's 134-year-old grave
When local historian David Brooks spotted toys lovingly placed on the grave of a two-year-old boy who had died 134 years ago, he put a post on social media to try and solve the mystery.
The Tea Tree Gully Library community history officer was familiar with the graves in the Hope Vally Cemetery in Adelaide’s north-east and for years he had watched toys appear on the grave of Herbert Henry Dicker regularly.
The toddler died shortly after his second birthday in 1885 from scarlet fever and after his family moved to Tasmania, the grave had become overrun with weeds so Mr Brooks was surprised that somebody was keeping the area tidy.
The rare site of the toys on the grave made Mr Brooks “sad, happy and curious at the same time.”
While putting together a night tour of the cemetery Mr Brooks decided to solve the mystery that had been puzzling him for so long.
He put a post on Twitter asking fellow history buffs to track down the person tending to little Herbert’s grave.
Within hours Julie Rhodes responded to the post saying herself and a friend were responsible for the kind gesture and had no idea it had caused so much intrigue.
“We just thought it would be nice to take the time and attention to take care of it” Ms Rhodes told Yahoo News Australia.
Two and a half years ago Ms Rhodes and a friend decided to take a different path on their daily walk, when they spotted the grave covered in leaf litter and the headstone was barely readable.
They decided it was in need of some attention; “We thought, if it was a relative of ours, we would want somebody to do the same,” she said.
After the initial clean up took Ms Rhodes, her teenage daughter and friend a few hours, they took turns returning to the grave every few months to leave toys for the little boy because they thought it was “just a nice thing to do,”
“I almost lost my son when he was a baby so it hit us in the heart,” she told Yahoo News.
Mr Brooks said although he had many theories over the years about why someone was leaving the toys, he was not expecting the motive to be so simple and sweet.
“You get a sense of the person and how lovely they are,” he said after meeting Ms Rhodes and her friend.
The story has since gone viral online and was spotted by distance relatives of the Dicker family.
Ms Rhodes told Yahoo News that she had recently received a message from Herbert’s distant relatives who thanked Ms Rhode’s for looking after his final resting place.
“We have been so touched by your efforts, particularly as we all live far away in Tasmania. Thanks so much. Love Jacqui, Ann and Barbara.”
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